AfD Questions Germany’s Presence In Afghanistan
SPEYER, GERMANY - JULY 01: Soldiers prepare to carry the coffin of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl during a requiem for him at Speyer cathedral on July 1, 2017 in Speyer, Germany. Kohl was chancellor of Germany for 16 years and led the country from the Cold War through to reunification. He died on June 16 at the age of 87. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images)
At the request of the Alternative for Deutschland or AfD, the Foreign Office reported that the expenditures from the budgets of the Ministry of Defense, the Foreign Office and the Development and Interior amounted to 770 million euros.
To date, the Bundeswehr deployment has cost 11.9 billion euros. The Federal Foreign Office has spent a two billion euros since 2001 and the Ministry of Development 2.3 billion euros.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior invested 61 million, the Ministry of Agriculture 33 million and the Ministry of Culture 34 million.
AfD questioned Germany’s deployment in Afghanistan because of the staggering costs involved. Since 2001, Germany has already spent around 16.4 billion euros.
“The SPD and the Greens once believed that they could democratize Afghanistan with a handful of soldiers. They failed with their plans. Eighteen long years has a broken Bundeswehr for this political blunder,” said the AfD Member of Parliament René Springer on Thursday.
As a result, so far 58 German soldiers, three policemen and two civilian employees have been killed.
“German security forces have nothing to gain in Afghanistan,” commented Springer.
He urged the federal government to finally stop the deployment of the Bundeswehr and to withdraw German soldiers and police from Afghanistan.
“Not least, to avoid more victims,” Springer added.
In February, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approved the resolution on Afghanistan, which extended the Bundeswehr’s involvement in the NATO-led noncombat mission Resolute Support through March 2020.
German troops are tasked to train Afghan soldiers in the north of the country.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Germany is the second-largest contributor of developmental and military support to Afghanistan, after the United States.
He explained that the government’s €360 million ($409 million) initiative to keep up to 1,300 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan is needed to guarantee that human rights are protected and that the rule of law is followed.
“We took on responsibility in Afghanistan,” he said. “And it is a part of our responsibility that human rights, the rights of women and minorities, these concepts of normalcy, are protected in Afghanistan.”
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